White House to Release Memo About Drone Attacks on U.S. Citizens

Posted on May 20, 2014

The American public will soon get a look into the decision-making process that led to the Obama administration’s use of drones to target U.S. citizens suspected of conducting terrorist activities abroad.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the Justice Department won’t be fighting a court order requiring the disclosure of the redacted version of a memo detailing the rationale for drone strikes against Americans, a practice that claimed one high-profile figure three years ago (via The Huffington Post):

The U.S. used a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011 to kill Anwar Al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida leader born in the U.S. Some critics complained that it was illegal for the U.S. to kill American citizens away from the battlefield without a trial.

The mandate for the memo’s release was triggered by a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU and The New York Times.